Scotland's NHS now in 'permanent crisis' because of SNP's 'long-term neglect'
The SNP appear to be content to go down in history as the government that presided over the slow death of the health service
Move along there, nothing to see here, no news today – just the same old story. The gradual, insidious descent of the NHS towards becoming an under-funded, over-subscribed service of last resort for people who cannot afford private health insurance is continuing as usual, that’s all.
In the same month that about one in five of the electorate rewarded the SNP with another term in government, the country’s hospitals were experiencing their worst May on record for A&E waiting times.
About one in eight patients waited eight hours or more to be admitted, discharged or transferred, the highest-ever figure for the month. The number of patients who passed through A&E in less than the four-hour target time was 63.6 per cent, a record low.
‘Worst day of their lives’
Overall, the number of patients being seen within four hours has fallen from 98.1 per cent in 2008, the year after the SNP took office, to just 67.7 per cent in 2026.
Of course, opposition politicians lined up to criticise the SNP, as they always faithfully do when the latest in the running series of bad statistics about the NHS is released. But are people actually listening? No doubt diehard nationalists will dismiss their claims as the usual ‘SNP bad’ propaganda.
However, it’s much harder to disregard the views of people like Dr Fiona Hunter, vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland. “Long-term neglect,” she said, had left hospitals “unable to cope even in the warmer months” when conditions were supposed to be ‘easier’ in A&E.
“We are in a permanent crisis. Until the Scottish Government steps in and takes real action, patients will continue to be put through agonising long waits on what is, often, already the worst day of their lives,” she added.
We can only conclude that the SNP are content to go down in history as the government that presided over the slow death of the health service, responding to regular updates about its ailing condition with little more than empty promises, soundbites and excuses. And as long as these remain effective lullabies for a slumbering nation, that’s unlikely to change.
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